John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 64:5

"Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou wast wroth, and we sinned: in them [have we been] of long time; and shall we be saved?" — Isaiah 64:5 (ASV)

You have met. He proceeds with the same subject, for the people deplore their hard lot, because they feel no alleviation in their adversity, although formerly God was accustomed to stretch out His hand to their forefathers.

Believers, therefore, speak in this manner: “You were accustomed to meet our forefathers; now Your face is turned away from us, and You appear to be irreconcilable, because we gain nothing by calling on You. From where does this diversity come, as if Your nature had been changed, and You were now different from what You have been?”

They next add, and make an acknowledgment, that they are punished justly, because they have sinned. I have previously stated that nothing is better in adversity than to remember God’s benefits—not only those which we have ourselves experienced, but also those which are related in Scripture, for we cannot be armed by a stronger shield against temptations of every kind.

This verse, in my opinion, is inaccurately explained by those who think that we should read those words as closely connected, Him that rejoices and does righteousness, as if he had said, “You have met those who willingly serve You, and whose highest pleasure is to do what is right.” I think that rejoicing here denotes those who were glad in prosperity, for at that time the people were in sadness and mourning. There is an implied contrast: “Formerly You were accustomed to meet our forefathers, before they were distressed by any affliction, and to cheer them by Your approach; now You are far distant and permit us to languish in mourning and grief.”

In Your ways they remembered You. In accordance with what he has now said, he adds that they “remembered God” because they enjoyed His present grace and felt that He was the author and director of their salvation. Thus, by “the ways of God,” he means prosperity: either that in this way God was near to them when He treated them softly and gently as His children, or because God is by nature inclined to acts of kindness.

But since he said that God was accustomed to “meet him that does righteousness,” the “remembrance” may relate to the practice of piety—that is, that they devoted themselves earnestly to the worship of God. Thus, it will be an explanation of the former clause, for the prophets frequently confirm by a variety of expressions what they have previously said.

To “remember” God is to be captivated by the pleasant remembrance of Him, so that we shall desire nothing more, and to place all our happiness in Him. Nothing delights us more than the remembrance of the mercy of God; on the other hand, if we feel that God is angry, the mention of Him fills us with alarm.

And we have sinned. The reason is assigned, for when they find that God is so unlike what He formerly was, they do not murmur against Him but throw all the blame on themselves. Let us learn from this that we should never think of the chastisements which the Lord inflicts without at the same time calling to mind our sins, so that we may confess that we are justly punished and may acknowledge our guilt.

In them is perpetuity. In this passage, עולם (gnolam) denotes nothing other than “long duration,” but it may refer either to “sins” or to “the ways of the Lord.”

It may refer to sins in this way: “Though we obstinately persisted in our sins and deserved that You should destroy us a thousand times, yet until now we have been saved by Your mercy.”

If we understand it to relate to “the ways of the Lord,” it will assign the reason why the people did not perish: because “the ways of the Lord” are steadfast and perpetual, and His mercy never comes to an end. That meaning appears to me to agree best with this passage.

Some supply the words that “the age,” or “perpetuity,” is founded on the ways of the Lord. But I prefer to take the words in their literal meaning, as when David says that the Lord is not angry but for a moment (Psalms 30:5), that He is easy to be reconciled and always compassionate. For His anger is not suddenly kindled, or with immoderate rage, as happens with humans, but He is unchangeable in benevolence and favor.

And we shall be saved, or, we have been saved. We have not yet grasped the whole of the Prophet’s statement, for he says that the people are saved, although they had been led into captivity, as into a grave, and deplored their calamity. On that account, I consider the preterite to be put for the future, for it is rather a wish or a prayer than an affirmation. Nor do the saints boast that they have obtained salvation; instead, deploring their misery, they turn to God’s everlasting mercy. Consequently, they praise that which they wish for, and not that which they have already obtained.